Catering Services and Food Procurement (CSFP) Toolkit
Advertising your requirement
The procurement of catering services is covered under Part B of the EU Public Procurement Directives [See footnote]. Under Part B of the Public Procurement Regulations, the contracting authority must ensure open competition for the goods and services. It is a requirement that the principles of probity, transparency and non-discrimination are applied. The contracting authority must conduct sufficient research to establish the number and type of catering contractors that might be capable of supplying the service.
Under Part B of the directives the contracting authority has two options in terms of selecting potential bidders to shortlist to the Invitation to Tender stage:
- Placing an advertisement in appropriate trade magazines or journals and the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Under Part B it is not mandatory to advertise in the OJEU but it may lead to more expressions of interest. On receipt of interest from the advertising, a pre-qualification questionnaire (PPQ) is issued for bidders to submit (this assumes the usual 'Restricted Procedure' is used).
- Research the supply market and prepare a shortlist based on Expressions of Interest (EOI).
It is the contracting authorities responsibility to determine the appropriate mechanism for shortlisting bidders in order to achieve fair competition and value for money.
The pre-qualification process is not mandatory, however it is considered to be best practice and favoured by contracting authorities as a way to identify suppliers capable of taking part in a full tender process. It is the contracting authority's responsibility to determine their procurement strategy, in line with their own processes.
It is Government policy to encourage Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME's) to provide services for the public sector. It is therefore extremely important to balance the requirement for lengthy questionnaires against the cost of the contract on offer.
Footnote] Implemented into UK law by http://www.ogc.gov.uk/procurement_policy_and_application_of_eu_rules_uk_regulations_.asp
Templates and resources
Page last modified: 21 February 2008
Page published: 21 February 2008